1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method and system for registering an identification of a tire in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Granted Patent Publication NO. 3212311 is known as one of conventional tire air pressure monitoring systems.
The above conventional tire air pressure monitoring system has air-pressure sensors fitted to tires of a vehicle body, respectively, and a tire air pressure monitoring unit installed in the vehicle body.
Each of the air-pressure sensors is adapted to detect an air pressure in each tire and transmit the detected air pressure with each identification data, referred to simply as, “sensor ID”, of each sensor. The tire air pressure monitoring unit is configured to receive each detected air pressure including each sensor ID. The tire air pressure monitoring unit is configured to determine whether or not the detected air pressure of the at least one of the tires is abnormal, and, when determining that the detected air pressure of the at least one of the tires is abnormal, to indicate the abnormality of the at least one of the tires on an indicator of the vehicle body, warning the abnormality.
Each sensor ID of each air-pressure sensor is registered on a memory of the tire air pressure monitoring unit so that the tire air pressure monitoring unit verifies each sensor ID included in each of the received data against each sensor ID registered on the memory, determining whether or not the received data is from one of the air-pressure sensors of the tires of the own vehicle body.
Each sensor ID is assigned to be registered to each air pressure sensor when each air-pressure sensor is shipped from a sensor maker.
When assembling a vehicle by using the air-pressure sensors, after the air-pressure sensors are fitted to the tires of the vehicle under assembly, a shifting unit or element of the vehicle under assembly makes shift the operation mode of the tire air pressure monitoring unit from the usual mode for monitoring each air pressure in each tire to the ID registration mode so that the tire air pressure monitoring unit receives each sensor ID transmitted in a constant period from each air-pressure sensor, registering each of the received sensor IDs on its memory.
The air-pressure sensor, however, repeatedly transmits the own sensor ID in a constant period, so that, when performing a sensor ID registration operation in a place at which many vehicles exist, such as auto factory, there is the possibility that the tire air pressure monitoring unit registers other sensor IDs transmitted from other air-pressure sensors of other vehicles in error.
In addition, the conventional ID registering method needs the shifting unit or element which allows the tire air pressure monitoring unit to shift the operation mode to the ID registration mode, causing the cost of the tire air pressure monitoring system to be high.
When, as the shifting unit or element for shifting the operation mode of the tire air pressure monitoring unit to the ID registration mode, a switch is provided for the tire air pressure monitoring system, in cases where the switch is turned on in error while the vehicle is moving, the operation mode of the tire air pressure monitoring unit shifts to the ID registration mode so that the original function of the tire air pressure monitoring unit for monitoring each air pressure in each tire may not be performed.